Gold-mining device



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

- A. MENDENHALL.

GOLD MINING DEVICE.

No. 540,997. Patented June 11, 1895.

"i'u I I \Muliw WW 1 z I I ,1

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

MENDENHALL. GOLD MINING DEVIGE.

No. 540,997. Patented June 12 4895.

fl 'f-ar rern-Ba/n/k f U ITED? STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMOS MENDENHALL, OF UNIONPORT, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE MENDEN- HALL GOLD MINING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' GOLD-MINING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 540,997, dated June 11, 1895. Application filed March 15,1895. Serial No. 541,912. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AMOS MENDENHALL', a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Unionport, in the county of Randolph and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gold-Mining Devices; and I do hereby declare that the followin g is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in lo the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for taking gold bearing deposits from the bottoms of rivers and other waters, and is intended as an improvement upon the invention described in Letters Patent granted to me April 5, 18S7,No. 360,713. In said pat- 2o ent there is shown and described a boat or. scow provided with a well and with a pivoted dredging pipe, having a valve at its lower end. In practice the dredging pipe with the valve closed, is lowered into the Water until 2 5 its end is in close proximity to the, bottom. The valve is then opened when the water will rush up into the pipe carrying with it the gold bearing deposits from the bottom of the river. The valve is again closed and the pipe tilted 0 on its pivots, when the water and deposits therein are delivered or dumped into a sluice box.

The present invention is designed to obviate objections incident to the working of the above machine, and it consists in the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter'fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of a boat or scow with my improve- 0 ments applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Figs. 3 and4= are detail views of one of the capstans and sprocket-wheels. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of one of the capstans. 4 5 In the said drawings, the reference-numeral 1 designates a boat or scow of any ordinary or suitable construction, and which may be propelled and steered in any manner found most convenient. Located near the bow of the boat is a centrifugal pumping engine, comprising a base 2, a pump 3, brackets 4, 4, in

I which isjournaled and supported the pump shaft 5, and a pulley 6 which is to be connected by a belt with a suitable motor, such for instance as a steam engine. The pump 3 is provided with an inlet pipe 7, to which is pivoted a dredging pipe 8, adapted to be lowered down through a well 8* inthe bow'of the boat into close proximity or contact with the bottom of a river when in use and to be raised up out of the way when not in use. The pump is also provided with an exit pipe 9, leading to a sluice or other receptacle 10.

In some rivers, where there are very richand extensive gold bearing deposits, the current is so sluggish or has so little power as to render steering of the boat or scow by the rudder, so as to carry the stern of boat toward the center of the river .'impossible. '10 provide for such contingency, I provide means for throwing either bow or stern toward or from the center of the river, which I will now describe. At each end of the boat are two capstans 12, 12, and 13, 13, rotatably mounted thereon, and provided with cables 15 which are carried to the shore, and these made fast, as seen in Fig. 2. At the lower ends of each of these capstans, and loosely mounted on the shafts thereof, are sprocket wheels 16 around which passes a sprocket chain 17. These sprocket wheels at their peripheries are provided with one or more dogs 18, pivoted thereto which are adapted to be thrown into and out of engagement with the teeth 19 in the lower ends of the capstans. When said dogs are in engagement with .the teeth, the sprockets will rotate with the capstans, or vice versa, the capstans will rotate with the sprockets, but when out of engagement therewith, the sprockets will not rotate when the capstans are rotated.

The numeral 20 designates a dog pivoted to the deck of the boat, and engages with the teeth 19, to prevent backward movement of the capstan.

The operation is as follows: The boat is secured in the river by means of the cables, as seen in Fig. 2, and the dredging pipe lowered to the bottom. The pump is then set in operation, and the gold bearing deposits are sucked up too and delivered to the sluice box or other receptacle. By this means the deposits are continuously conveyed to the sluice box, instead of intermittently, in my said patent. To turn the bow of the vessel, toward, say the right bank of the river, the dogs of the sprockets are disengaged from the teeth in the front capstan s, and the capstans at the rear or stern of the boat are then rotated or turned to the right, and by turning one of the capstans, which turns the chain to the left, the stern will be pulled out toward the center of the river, and the bow pointed toward the shore. A reverse movement of said capstans would cause a reverse movement of the boat. To move the boat from side to side of the river, the dogs of the sprockets are engaged with the notches of the capstans and one of said capstans rotated by a capstan bar or wheel. This will cause all the other capstans to rotate in unison therewith, causing the boat to be carried from one side to the other, according to the direction in which the capstan was turned.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a gold mining apparatus, the combination with a boat having a Well in its bow, and a centrifugal pump provided at its inlet end with a pivoted dredging pipe, of thevcapstans at the ends of the boat having notches at theirlower ends, the cables secured thereto, the sprocket wheels loose on the shafts of said capstans, the dogs pivoted to said sprockets and the sprocket chain, substantially as described.

2. In a boat or seow, the combination with the capstans at the ends thereof, and the cables secured thereto, of the sprockets loose 011 the shafts of said capstans, the sprocket chains and means for connecting said sprockets with the capstans, and disconnecting them therefrom, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AMOS MENDENIIALL.

Witnesses:

JAMES MILLER BEST, J AMES M. CARVER. 

